Mount Fuji could collapse in quake: professor

Published : 2012-05-10 14:05
Updated : 2012-05-10 14:34

Mt Fuji may be situated atop an active fault capable of unleashing a massive avalanche, the Sankei newspaper warned Thursday.

A hidden fault was discovered close to the eastern foot of the symbolic mountain in a study on underground faults conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology over the past three years.

The fault shows traces of having moved other faults that were formed several hundred thousand years ago, which means it is highly likely to be active, said the research team led by Professor Sato Hiroshi of Tokyo University’s Seismology Laboratory.

The research concluded that in the case of an earthquake with an intensity of 7 on the seismic scale, the eastern slope of Mt Fuji could collapse, causing a massive landslide.

“A sudden earthquake would leave no time for people to evacuate in time,” Sato said.

Calls to renew disaster prevention measures are on the rise as the newly found fault was not included in the hazard map drawn by the Japanese government in 2004.